Pound The Stone- Regional Final
Goessel Guys Varsity Basketball Regional Final Little River @ Goessel February 29, 2020
In the Goessel 1A Regional final, the host Bluebirds faced Wheat State Rival and league champion Little River. Both teams already have secured spots in either the Marysville or Riley Country sub-state. Little River is at #9 in the KBCA final season poll as well as the MaxPreps 1A poll. In the northern sub-states, Goessel is well-positioned to have equal opportunity, as they will be placed in a different sub-state bracket than Little River no matter the outcome of tonight’s contest. Goessel shows as #20 in the MaxPreps 1A poll. Of the top 10 KBCA teams, none would be in Goessel’s bracket. Seeding of the sub-states will happen based on the outcome of tonight’s contests across the state, which saw several upsets of top-ranked teams.
In one of the few big post-season upsets so far, undefeated and previously #1 1A ranked 3 point mad Osborne fell in their Mankato regional semi-final to Logan, ending their season at 19-1. Interestingly, in that regional, both the 5 and 6 seeds advance to sub-state, upsetting both the 1 and 2 seeds.
Previously this season, Goessel has faced Little River twice, on 2/7 they lost 58-40, on 1/23 at the Burrton tournament they fell 59-49. Juniors Jayden Garrison and Trey Rolfs provide a tag team for the Redskins that most teams have found unstoppable. Tonight, Goessel occupied the north bench and were the visitors in an unusual home/away format based on the regional seeding. The student section had white arms/legs painted along with pom-poms and kept the house lively all night. Goessel jumped out to a 4-2 lead tonight, but Rolfs put up 16 in the first half and Garrison filled in the back half with 14; together they finished with 40 of the Redskin points tonight. Goessel put a game on the board that will hold up against any team they will see next week. The Bluebird defense was rock solid; turnovers against the Redskin quick hands were a negative tonight. The home fans were adamant that there was subjective officiating. Sophomore Caiden Duerksen put on one of his best efforts of the year in the home court season finale.
To start the 1st quarter, Skyler Wuest hit a runner in the paint, then Nate Zogleman sroked one from close range off the glass to lead 4-2. The Redskins went on a 7-0 run until Caiden Duerksen rolled a nice finish on the break, then Dylan Lindeman got the lay up +1 to knot at 9-9. Coach Guhr called time at 1:27 and despite great Bluebird hustle at both ends, the Redskins were able to add two more field goals to lead 11-17 after one quarter.
Goessel stood and took 4 charges tonight against the hard-charging Redskin offensive pushes. Duerksen was credited with taking one early in the 2nd, Jerah Schmidt was credited with two. Garrison and Rolfs took it to 11-22 on a banked three but at 4:30 Duerksen leaped on a nice inside follow, but the Little River onslaught continued to 13-26. Little River’s quick hands got it to 13-28 before Jerah buried one from five steps up into the student section at 2:50. Zogleman drove for a nice finish and the Bluebirds held the Redskins scoreless for the last 2 ½ minutes of the half. The 7-16 2nd quarter proved to be the undoing tonight and the half ended 18-33.
Out of the break, Goessel put on a basketball exhibition starting with a pull up three on a break from Lindeman: 21-33. Jake Hagewood toasted one in from 12 feet and Duerksen hit the offensive board for yet another follow. Putting the Goessel fans in a frenzy, Duerksen coasted in on the break and Hagewood bounced up and in for two more to close to 30-40. Timeout Little River 2:25. To the beat of “Go Go Blue and White” Goessel looked ready to run with a pull up 12 footer and the quarter closed 32-40. Goessel won the 1st class quarter 14-7.
The 4th quarter student roller coast tonight went “over the River and through woods” with the opposing fans watching in dazzled wonder. In a disheartening sequence, Garrison caused a turnover to start and finished +1. Zogleman stroked a baseline jumper and then followed a long Lindeman miss for two more. Duerksen closed to 38-47, but Wuest fouled out on an inside defensive stance at 1:47. Lindeman had the fans on their feet with a jumper and Coach Guhr called time with 1:35 left. On the press, Goessel converted the steal and Lindeman was fouled. After hitting the two charities it was 42-49 but Little River’s ball handlers were able to close out the contest. A closing highlight was Zogleman catching a carom, heading hard down the floor and finishing coast to coast. The game ended 44-51. This was the final home game for Seniors Lindeman, Schmidt and Hagewood. Congratulations Bluebirds on being Regional Runner-up! Lindeman scored 12, Zogleman and Duerksen both had 10, Hagewood put up 5, Wuest 4 and Schmidt 3 for the Bluebirds. Also in tonight was Luke Wiens. -Karl Brubaker
